beautiful rat sunset
i hear the pads beat, loud as drums.
i know he's coming. let him come.
chorus
let the big big rabbit come out.
let the big big rabbit come down.
let him cast his shadow on the bright face of our little house.
let him dance through the garden.
let him come.
it's getting darker, as the sky grows colder
and i feel your hand on my naked shoulder.
praise god i know you're with me. i know you're here.
i can feel you breathing. i know you're near me.
ok
[chorus]
i hung pictures of you from every lamp post in town
as the humidity climbed into numbers i don't care to repeat
the air was heavy and the sky was alive
and the pacific starlight train wasn't due in till 11.45
chorus
i thought about how cold you must be
i thought about things i thought that i'd soon be forgetting
i thought of you up in canada as the lightning storm lit up
all downtown redding
there were teenagers in mini-trucks coming around every corner
you can taste the adrenaline, coming out through their skin
i came to the well-lit doorway of a sheet music store
saw my face in the glass. sat down in the doorway and i settled in.
[chorus]
73 years before the advent of the christian era,
as rome was taking over any land within reach,
setting up proxy governmnents in the conquered lands,
there lived one such man given just such a job.
gaius verres. go.
a praetor held a position which operated on trust.
he was to govern instead of the emperor himself.
it was an easy easy privilege to abuse.
and verres did so.
he was the governor of agrigentum which we now know as sicily.
and he stole everything that wasn't nailed down,
took improper advantage of other men's wives.
the list goes on. trust me.
cicero wrote it all down.
at syracuse verres welcomed a band of pirates.
they all drank and danced and sang on the shore,
and when the husband of one of verres's paramours
came bringing a fleet of boats with him,
verius, clever, if diabolical, gave him a job.
and enlisted the pirates to burn the whole fleet down.
the boats burned in the sicilian harbor
the flames rose hundreds of feet into the air
we stood on the shore watching them burn we stood
on the shore, we heard the old songs. hey!
[spoken]
as they age, men encounter the 6th fear - loss of verility.
just look him straight in the eye, invade his space by
standing a little closer than normal...
by 8.30 am the sun was so hot, that it made me remember.
i pulled on the jacket with the bars on the pockets
and i stood in front of the window
and the skin on my face has a memory all its own
and it drinks in the pure heat, real slow.
i remember lima. i remember the good life.
i remember lima. i remember the good life.
the window is ten feet high and three feet wide
sun beams bounce off the dark water
and come through the clear glass, magnified.
standing here in the house on pacific coast highway
given to me by a friend whose name is no longer important
my conscience is clean.
and the feeling of power like thick red wine
and it's oh-nine-oh-five military time
i remember lima. i remember the good life.
i remember lima. i remember the good life.
i opened up the window and the cold air came in.
and i saw a bird on a branch outside
that i had never seen before.
he looked a robin, but it had an upside down v-shaped
red mark on its chest.
and i had a special feeling in my mind
and i had a special feeling in my mind
i had a certain glint in my eye,
on the morning trouble came by.
there was a map of the american-midwest on one wall.
and there was a map of the american-west on another wall.
and there was a map of rome on the third wall.
and there were maps in all direrctions.
i was looking at them pondering connections
when trouble came by.
then i stuck my head out the window.
i had to stick my head out the window.
it was much colder than i'd imagined it would be.
it was much much colder than i'd imagined it would be.
it was much much colder.
it was much much colder and trouble came by.
the water's real cool and the water's real sweet
here's hoping that no points repeat
because i bet against the chances that you'd ever be mine
laid everything down on the don't pass line
chorus
and it's a stupid trick of fortune anyway
but the lights are bright tonight
and your eyes shine tonight on chesapeke bay
walk through the water and our feet get wet
and on the dark ended water i see your silhouette
5 dollars says that it's gone in a minute
5 dollars says that your heart goes with it
[chorus]
two cans clear chicken broth
two white onions
one bulb garlic
boil, boil.
boil, boil.
and the screams of delight from the pool outside
the splashing sounds
the coffee heating up on the stove
the sky outside. the color of pure fresh milk.
boil, boil.
boil, boil.
and the phone ringing, and me picking it up
and watching myself do so
in the quiet room
in the june evening and your voice on the other end
and the impossibility of your voice on the other end
and the impossible echo. inside.
boil, boil.
boil, boil.
sometimes you're a starling
sometimes you're a kite
you're a hyena from early to mid afternoon
you're a stray dog at night
it's the most amazing thing i've ever seen
how you will not act like a human being
when you put on your special coat
and you made your special lunge for my throat
between you and me,
it was, it was, really exciting
it's the most alarming thing i've ever seen
how you will not act like a human being
it's the most incredible thing i've ever seen
how you refuse to act like a human being
in the starlight.
in the starlight.
in the starlight.
in the starlight.
in the starlight.
in the starlight.
in the starlight.
in the starlight.